Dine Out: Landmark Rochester eatery takes the cake

It's been about a week since I ate at Rochester's finest (only?) restaurant for the first time, and every day since I've had the same thought: When can I get back there for another meal?

Jonathan Comey

It's been about a week since I ate at Rochester's finest (only?) restaurant for the first time, and every day since I've had the same thought: When can I get back there for another meal?

Matt's Blackboard has been around for five years, but I'd never heard of it until recently. In fact, when I did my "Stroll Across SouthCoast" last summer, we made a pit stop in the Plumb Corner complex that houses Matt's — and I unwittingly ate convenience store snacks there instead of the delicious food that waited for me just steps away.

Signage is not a strength at Matt's. But when you're a small-town restaurant located on a small-town thoroughfare, it's not about neon billboards, it's about delivering a lot of different delights and doing it consistently.

Matt's seemed more than up to that task.

There were three of us for lunch at about 1:30 on a Friday: my brother-in-law Jeff, my son Benjamin and myself. It was the last missed school day of Benjamin's gala two-week vacation/birthday celebration. (The kid had like five different birthday cakes, and still has his official party this weekend. I don't think I had this many birthday recognitions over the course of my entire childhood.)

And the star treatment continued for Benjamin as soon as we were seated — not only was he offered a coloring option, which kids are used to at most casual restaurants, he was offered an entire coloring book.

"Daddy!" he said, looking up from a page of word-find puzzles. "I found the word 'spending!'"

While he enriched his mind, Jeff and I formulated the plan to enrich our stomachs. Matt's has a small but complete base menu that's enhanced by their daily blackboard specials that gives the place its name.

We decided to bypass the kid's menu, in recognition of Benjamin's induction into the 6-and-over club. We are all appetizer freaks, so we settled on the half cheese pizza ($4.99), the sweet chili chicken tenders ($7.99) and the scallop and corn fritters ($7.99). Just missing the cut was fried mac-and-cheese — I thought Benjamin would go for it, but apparently he wasn't able to assimilate the "fried" and the "mac-and-cheese." Kids.

"Can I have a bite, buddy?" I asked Benjamin as he chomped a pizza slice.

He paused while chewing, sized me up.

"One," he said.

It would turn into two, however — the pizza rivaled any I've had in the area: thin crust, baked perfectly, delicious sauce, great cheese.

Full-size specialty pizzas (with red or white sauce) include pulled pork and roasted corn ($12.95), and scallop and bacon ($13.95). But on my return, I might just go with that cheese pizza again — it was darn near perfect.

I'd say the same about the boneless wings, with a great sweet-chili sauce and the type of quality chicken tender that multi-state franchises are made of. We asked for blue cheese and ranch dressing dips to go with it, and were glad we did — both dressings were exceptionally good, and made me wonder what I was missing among Matt's salads.

Jeff quoted from "Ratatouille," saying (correctly) that "The saucier is on point!"

The fritters were very good as well, but I only had one, wanting to leave some room. Jeff was more than happy to eat the other four.

Benjamin and I were pretty full at this point, so we decided to pick one lunch-type special off of the famous blackboard to eat there, and a dinner special from the board to take home and try later.

There were 11 specials listed, including bacon cheddar skins ($7.50), lobster roll with chowder ($15.99), pork Oscar with crab, asparagus and hollandaise ($16.99). We went with the hot pastrami sandwich with "Blackboard sauce," swiss and fries ($9.99), and the baked haddock with crabmeat stuffing dinner (with mashed potatoes and mixed veggies, $17.99).

Wanting to introduce something healthy to the mix, I ordered a side of broccoli for Benjamin — to be steamed to a pleasing softness, or we'd be sure to get that little kid "yecch!" face. We also got a single meatball.

Clearly, the staff is empowered to say yes to special requests, and that is always a good thing.

The broccoli, which was cooked perfectly to Benjamin's liking, was $1.99, and the meatball (about the only thing we ate that didn't appear to be handmade) was $1.25.

The pastrami sandwich was good, but a little small for the price. The fries, which are $1.50 extra with any regular menu sandwich order, were as excellent as everything else was.

For dessert, there were some menu options (blueberry cobbler, grapenut custard, chocolate cake), but we chose one of their homemade cupcakes — Oreo. It came with three spoons, plated with a drizzle of chocolate sauce and some cream, and it was huge! It was also gone in about 60 seconds. I've always kind of been dismissive of cupcakes, but this one took the "» well, you know, the cake.

We didn't ask the price before ordering, and when we got the bill, I speculated that it would be $7 — "but I would have paid $10!" It was $3.50, barely more than the crusty old corn muffin you get from a Dunkin' Donuts drivethru.

After we were done eating, we checked out the rest of the space — there's a coffee shop off to the side with more good-looking pastry, and plenty of seating outside in that Plumb Corner complex for a nice spring day. You can eat at the bar, watching Chef Matt Gurney in action, or at any of 20 or so tables in the tastefully decorated dining room. They also do a lot of takeout and catering.

The tab for lunch, not including the to-go dinner, was $43.76, rounding out to $54 with tip.

Matt's isn't cheap, but the quality is evident in every bite.

As a satisfied customer notes on the restaurant's website: "This might be the only place in town ... But I am sure glad it is my town."

(P.S.: Jeff and his cousin Cheryl shared the re-heated baked haddock special for lunch the next day, and Jeff's report was glowing on every level. Even 24 hours later, the saucier was still on point.)

Dine Out's reviewer visits restaurants unannounced and at his or her discretion. The Standard-Times pays for the meals reviewed. The reviews merely reflect one diner's experience. Ratings range from 1 to 5 stars.